In the following essay, Bandy argues that "the play is anchored to a strong underlying structure," which "consists of a series of tightly interlocking allusions to incidents recorded in the Bible."

Readers and audiences generally agree that August Strindberg' s The Ghost Sonata is a highly provocative play. It is assuredly one of his most popular. Yet, even the most thoughtful critics are hard pressed to explain exactly what this play is about, or to make much coherent sense of the action onstage. As fairly typical of present-day thinking, we may take this comment from an anthology widely-used in introductory literature classes:

The play is not, as far as reader or spectator can discover, based on any rational system of thought. It asserts, or, rather, it shows it does not prove. On the other hand, that Strindberg has not philosophized his vision renders it immune to rational...